In industry and in agriculture and other fields of endeavor, there very often arises the need for the feeding of small parts on a one-by-one basis. Small nuts, washers, and bolts, as an example, in assembly or packaging procedures, and seeds, pills or powder, as another example, in packaging, strip mounting, and the like.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a versatile machine for part feeding of fungible goods with built-in-adjustable features which allows adaptation to numerous parts varying in size and shape.
The invention utilizes a horizontal reciprocating chute or trough fed from a hopper. Two early U.S. patents in this field are Kuehlman, U.S. Pat. No. 2,337,667 (1943) which uses the shape of a discharge chute to align parts, and Eames, U.S. Pat. No. 139,556 (1873) which is directed to a multiple inclined trough device for separating, concentrating and amalgamating ores. The latter patent uses a horizontal oscillating motion similar to that used in the manual panning of gold to aid the action of gravity a separate mercury and heavy particles from slime.
It is thus an object of the invention to provide a feeding device which has manifold ready adjustments to accommodate and fit the particular requirements as will be evident in the following description and claims wherein the principles of the invention are set forth together with details to permit persons skilled in the art to practice the invention, all in connection with the best mode presently contemplated for the invention.